Derek deane biography
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Derek Deane answers the Gramilano Questionnaire… Dance Edition
When did you start dancing?
I was nearly 16. Late… I never had any intention of becoming a ballet dancer.
Why did you start dancing?
So that I could play the Artful Dodger in a local production of the musical Oliver.
When did you start choreographing?
Shortly after I starting dancing, I choreographed a terrible dance to a song called Sugar Sugar for my sister’s secretarial college’s Christmas party!!! Not much of a hint of things to come….
Why did you start choreographing?
Because I felt the urge to be more expressive than just through dancing myself. I was encouraged by De Valois, MacMillan, Ashton and the wonderful Leslie Edwards which helped one’s confidence.
Which dancer inspired you most as a child?
None.
Which dancer do you most admire?
Difficult this question, impossible to answer, there are so many… But at the top I suppose, for me, there are two: Sib
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Who is Princess Diana’s friend, dancer Derek Deane?
KNOWN as one of the few people who really knew Princess Diana, we explore who Derek Deane actually is.
Read to find out everything we know about the ballet dancer.
- Read our Princess Diana live blogfor the latest updates
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Who is Princess Diana's friend and dancer Derek Deane?
Derek Deane was born in Cornwall 1953.
The dancer and choreographer was Princess Diana's right-hand man during her most difficult times in life.
As Diana's best friend and confidant, Derek was there throughout her divorce to Prince Charles and the early stages of the princesses' relationship with Dodi.
He also released some interviews where he revealed Diana's secret pain, caused by the divorce and the betrayal with Camilla.
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What has Derek Deane said about their friendship?
Diana and Derek became friends over the princesses' love of ballet.
Derek said: "I got to know a very different Diana.
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My Secret Life: Derek Deane, choreographer, 57
My parents were... very kind people. My father was in the RAF and my mother trained as a sjuksköterska. I had a very distant relationship with them, though, mostly because of their work commitments.
The household I grew up in... I grew up in lots of different households, because we moved round the earth all the way through my childhood. I went to 10 different schools.
When I was a child I wanted to... inom always really wanted to be in the theatre, but as an actor. It changed to dance very late – inom only started with dance when inom was 16.
If I could change one thing about myself... It's not a very good answer, it's just related to dance – I'd change my ankles, knees and hips to new ones, after 30 years of dancing.
You wouldn't know it but I am very good at... shearing sheep.
You may not know it but I'm no good at... catching sheep! To answer properly, I'm no good at being patient with people who don't work hard.
At night I dream